Chapter 5 Under the Shadow is the Nearest Place to Him
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Zhou Zijing and his father Zhou Shenghai walked into the general manager's office of Shanhaimen Club.
They were informed before the training that they were going to see Kong Xianliang today. So Zhou Shenghai came early and waited for his son to finish training and change his clothes before coming together.
There, they met the club's general manager Kong Xianliang, an elderly, skinny old man.
When he saw the two people coming in, he stood up from his seat, walked around the desk, took the initiative to greet them, and shook hands with Zhou Zijing and Zhou Shenghai one by one.
After a simple greeting, he motioned for the two of them to sit down.
"The club came to you to inform you..." Kong Xianliang said after watching both of them sit down. "We have received an inquiry for the Zi Jing."
There was no fluctuation on the faces of the two people.
Based on Zhou Zijing's performance, various rumors about him come out in the transfer market every year. Not to mention giant clubs like South China Tigers, even Anton Shining Star has considered him...
Seeing the two people looking so calm, Kong Xianliang knew that they probably had a misunderstanding.
So he added: "It's an inquiry from Europe."
The two of them still maintained a calm expression...but after a second or two, it suddenly became exciting.
Zhou Zijing's eyes widened, and Zhou Shenghai frowned, showing a confused look.
Then they looked at each other, then turned to Kong Xianliang at the same time, and asked in unison: "Which club?"
Seeing such a tacit understanding between father and son, Kong Xianliang laughed.
"Leeds City."
The two of them were stunned at the same time.
They didn't expect it to be this name.
"Isn't there Hu Lai in Leeds City?" Zhou Shenghai blurted out the question in his heart first, and then he immediately thought about it: "Ah, so it is very likely that Hu Lai will really leave."
"The club just wants to ask you if you want to go to Leeds City?" Kong Xianliang asked.
Since the Women's World Cup, the Chinese Football Association and the professional leagues have jointly issued an internal document to encourage domestic clubs to let young players under the age of 25 go out and study and play football in Europe.
This is not a mandatory requirement, but in fact everyone can understand it as some kind of compulsion.
In the past, when European clubs were interested in their players, if domestic clubs did not want to release them, they could either make an absurdly high offer to scare away the European clubs, or they could simply refuse to release them and not respond to the other club's contact.
The Football Association has nothing to do with it.
Now the Football Association still can't control it, but the professional leagues can, and in a sense, the professional leagues are inextricably linked to the Football Association.
If the professional league wants to do well, the Football Association's face cannot be ignored.
Now it's "encouragement" in name, but in fact it's telling domestic clubs to recognize the situation clearly and not do anything irrational.
What is the situation now?
Let more Chinese players go abroad and go to Europe to experience high-level football. This is the situation.
Faced with such a situation, which club dares not to let him go? Which club dares to propose a transfer fee that obviously exceeds the player's worth?
Since the club cannot force players to stay, the players' personal wishes become crucial.
If the player himself is unwilling to go abroad, then the club certainly does not have to take responsibility for not letting the player go.
But...how many players can say "no" when faced with the temptation to play in Europe?
Especially with a successful precedent like Hu Lai.
Coupled with the achievements of latecomers Luo Kai, Zhang Qinghuan, Wang Guangwei, Xia Xiaoyu and Chen Xingyi, many young players dream of playing football in Europe.
Even if there is no way to finally gain a foothold in Europe, it is the wish of many young people to be able to see the vast world.
After all, after receiving training in Europe and feeling the atmosphere of European football, your performance should be better when you return to China than before going abroad, right?
After hearing Kong Xianliang's question, Zhou Zijing turned to look at his father, and Zhou Shenghai said to him: "Don't look at me, you can tell your own thoughts."
So Zhou Zijing turned to Kong Xianliang and nodded vigorously: "I want to go, I really want to go, Manager Kong!"
Kong Xianliang sighed inwardly.
This was a result that he should have guessed a long time ago, but when he heard Zhou Zijing say this, he was still a little disappointed.
But he quickly adjusted his mood and said to Zhou Zijing: "Since you want to go, the club will negotiate with the other party. Don't worry, the club will never deliberately make things difficult for the other party regarding the transfer fee."
Zhou Zijing's joy was beyond words: "Thank you, Manager Kong, and thank you to the club!"
He stood up directly and bowed to Kong Xianliang.
Kong Xianliang waved his hands repeatedly: "Don't be anxious yet, I haven't even written out the horoscope yet."
"I believe you, Manager Kong, can handle it. You are the best manager in the country!"
"Hey, you kid, don't put your hat on me!"
After saying that, Kong Xianliang laughed himself.
He waved his hand: "Okay, okay, I know you can't wait to go out. The club will communicate with you in time and keep the communication open."
Zhou Zijing said quickly: "Don't worry, Manager Kong. My dad and I have our mobile phones turned off 24 hours a day. As long as there is new progress, you can call us even at two or three in the middle of the night!"
※※※
After leaving the general manager's office, Zhou Zijing and his father strolled through the training base of the Shanhai Mariners.
They soon arrived at the first team's training ground. The first team's training had ended. In the previously noisy place, only turf maintenance personnel were doing maintenance work.
The two of them looked at the busy staff inside through the barbed wire fence.
"Dad, did I steal your show just now?" Zhou Zijing recovered from the initial excitement and noticed that in the general manager's office just now, it seemed that he was the only one talking to Manager Kong, and his father
However, the manager and manager remained silent.
Although his father asked him to do this, he is also his agent. This kind of thing is usually his father's job. How could he be allowed to do it by himself?
Zhou Shenghai shook his head: "It doesn't matter. I was thinking about a problem at the time and couldn't bear to argue with your manager."
"What kind of question can make you silent?"
"I wonder... if Leeds City is a good choice."
Zhou Zijing turned to look at his father.
Dad Zhou Shenghai looked at the training ground and continued: "For reasons everyone knows, Leeds City is a very popular team in the country. And it is not weak. Being able to play anywhere represents a huge honor, but with
At the same time, there are also great risks..."
"Dad, I have been learning English, and I often chat with foreign players in the team. Daily communication is no problem." Zhou Zijing asked his father to relax. "Besides, there are language problems, living habits problems, and dietary problems.
...It doesn’t matter which team you go to, as long as you go to Europe..."
Zhou Shenghai shook his head: "That's not what I'm talking about. Do you know why Leeds City wants you by name?"
"Because Hu Lai is leaving?" Zhou Zijing replied.
The transfer rumors about Hu Lai have not stopped this summer.
During the Women's World Cup in China, transfer rumors about Hu Lai sometimes stole the spotlight from the Women's World Cup and Li Qingqing.
"Yeah." Zhou Shenghai nodded, "They want you to be Hu Lai's successor. But this also means that you will be compared with Hu Lai by everyone, which is not a good thing. If you go to Leeds City, it means
I want to play in the shadow of Hu Lai..."
But Zhou Zijing himself laughed: "Hey, what do I think? It turns out that this is what you are thinking about, Dad..."
"What nonsense! This is the future you have to face!"
"Wouldn't that be nice, Dad?"
"What good?"
"Dad, have you forgotten what my goal has always been?"
Zhou Shenghai turned to look at his son with a confused look on his face.
"Tsk, you really forgot!" Zhou Zijing sighed, "I have always wanted to beat Hu Lai from high school to now! What's wrong with going to Leeds City? Let me tell you, it couldn't be better! No.
What better way to win than to make Leeds City fans forget about him... I heard that Leeds City fans painted Hulay on the outside wall of their house to express their love for Hulay. Then I hope that in the future
They'll replace the person in that painting with me!"
After saying this, Zhou Zijing looked at his father, only to find that his father was looking at him with a ghostly look.
He said dissatisfied: "Dad, what's your expression?"
"Uh..." Zhou Shenghai hesitated for a moment, then shook his head and smiled, "It's nothing. But it's good. This is good. Just go for this goal and work hard, ah!"
"Of course I will work hard, and I will try my best 200%!"
"Okay, you know it yourself. Let's go." Zhou Shenghai turned around and walked towards the parking lot first.
Zhou Zijing followed.
Behind them, on the first team's training ground, the staff also began to leave one after another.
As dusk deepens, the training base of Shanhai Sailors also enters silence.
Zhou Zijing looked back at the training base.
Unknowingly, he has been playing here for five years.
These five years have transformed him from a high school player to a qualified professional player and national football player.
He also participated in the World Cup.
From now on, he will start a new journey.
He suddenly recalled the situation when he heard that Hu Lai was going to play in the Premier League.
At that time, he was lying on the bed frustrated, feeling that he was being pushed further and further away. He didn't know when he would catch up with Hu Lai and then be qualified to stand in front of him and challenge him.
As a result, two years later today, he has the opportunity to play in the Premier League.
Europe, which I thought was not so easy to get to, is getting closer to me little by little...
He felt that his father must have thought that he was going crazy again.
But that's what he really thought.
Compared with the despair and helplessness two years ago, now that he has the opportunity to go to Leeds City, even if he plays in the shadows, he is the closest to that guy...
I'll catch up with you eventually, Hu Lai!
Don't run away if you have the guts, wait for me, Zhou Zijing, to defeat you!